Logging apparatus



(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 1.

G. S. POUTS. LOGGING APPARATUS.

No. 582,732 f Patented May' 18, 1897.

(No Model.)

3 Sheets-Sheet 2. G. S. POU-TS. LOGGING APPARATUS.

Patented May 18, 1897.

(No Model.) tSSheets--Slheetl 3.

G. S. POUTS.

LOGGING APPARATUS. No. 582,732. Patented May 18, 1897.

UNrTED STATES.

PATENT Ormes.

GEORGE S. FOUTS, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA.

LOGGING APPARATUS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 582,732, dated May 18, 1897'.

Application filed June 5, 1896. Serial No. 594,413. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE S. FOUTS, a citizen of the United States, residing at San Francisco, in the county of San Francisco and State of California, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Logging Apparatus, dac. and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof.

My invention relates to the transmission of power by means of ropes, cables, or other bands, such as are used for carriers, elevators, and other hoisting and hauling apparatus. My present improvements are applied to drive-pulleys for such cables provided with gripping devices by which the cable is alternately held and released, it being held and gripped while in contact with the pulley and released as it leaves the pulley. Such devices are intended to sustain the greatest strains without allowing the cable to slip. Ilitherto the power or force of the grip has been constant and unvarying-that is, the cam or cams which operate the grips have been so constructed as to give a certain amount of power to the latter, estimated to be enough to keep the cable from slipping, but not capable of being increased.

The object of my present invention is to provide means by which an increased strain on the cable will increase the force of the gripping contact on the cable in proportion to such an increase of strain.

I have in the accompanying drawings shown my improvements as applied to a logging system, by which I mean apparatus for hauling logs to some terminal place, such as a mill or a shipping-point. Such a system is particularly adapted to show my improvements, because the strains upon the hauling-cable are not only severe, but are constantly varying from many causes.

Besides the main feature above mentioned my invention has another object, a construction which enables me to change the lead or direction of the hauling-cable as may be required by the situation of the timber, so that I can set up a portable plant at any convenient place in the woods and exhaust the felled timber in all directions (within the limit of my cable) before it is necessary to move to another situation. This manner of collecting logs is a great improvement over present methods, being far quicker and more economical, since it saves both labor and time. Vhile, however, I have emphasized this particular use of my invention, it must be understood that my apparatus can be employed in other kinds of cable hauling, hoisting, and traction and is not limited with respect to the kind of use to which it may be put.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a front elevation of my apparatus. Fig. 2 is a plan View of the same. Fig. 3 is an end elevation. Fig. 4 is a vertical section taken about on a central longitudinal line through Fig. 2. Fig. 5 is an elevation of the grippulley broken away to show two opposite gripping-sections. Fig. 6 is an enlarged longitudinal section to illustrate the connections by which the cam is automatically adjusted on the shaft to increase the grip of the clampin g-sections.

My machine should be mounted upon a bed or frame of heavy timbers, as shown, in order to give it great stability.

A is the circular bed of the machine, having a base-ange l, which is bolted to the timber foundation. The bed A is a hollowcasing which contains the gear for driving the grip-pulley and supports'such pulley as well as the rest of the apparatus.

B is a shaft which may be supposed to be coupled to the shaft of a portable engine or is driven in any other suitable way. The shaft B has two gears B' B2, which are adapted to gear up or gear down the counter-shaft C, which is the shaft that transmits power directly to the machine. The counter-shaft has two gears C and C2, which are feathered upon it so as to be adjustable and to derive either high speed or low speed from the main shaft. The gears C' and C2 may be formed in one piece with a grooved collar 2 and the latter provided with an adjusting-lever of well-known construction. In Fig. l the counter-shaft is shown as geared down from the gear B2 on the main shaft.

Located centrally within the casing A is a vertical shaft D, which has a bearing (adjustable for wear) in a step or socket D', depending from the casing. Upon thisshaft is secured the hub 3 of the drive-wheel or grip- IOO pulley E, which I prefer to construct in aceordanee with a certain application for Letters Patent, led by me February '11, 1896, and serially numbered 578,887. This wheel has a web t and a rim having a groove 5 for the cable, Fig. 5, and is provided with a series of oppositely-acting gripping-sections F F', between which the cable is automatically clamped and from which it is automatically released at the proper time. The pulley E has a flange 6 at its lower edge, Fig. 4, to which is bolted the large bevel-gear G, which rotates within the easing A and is driven by a pinion G, secured to the end of the counter-shaft C and working through a slot in the casing A. A hood 7 protects the pinion and forms a cover for the slot.

The gripping-sections F F are operated by a cam-disk 1I upon a sleeve H', which forms an upper bearing for the shaft D. The disk is vertically movable upon the sleeve Il under certain conditions. The cam is a groove formed in the periphery of the disk Il, in which groove travels a series of rollers 8, carried by the pulley, each of which is connected by links and levers to two oppositely-placed gripping-sections.

As many pairs of gripping-sections can be used as may be found necessary to properly grip the cable, and this necessity willdepend upon the diameter of the grip-wheel and the amount and kind of work to be done with any particular machine. Ordinarily I prefer to use six pairs ef grips. In the drawings I have fully illustrated the operation of one pair of grips, Figs. 2, 4, and 5. Each roller S is journaled in a lever 9, the end of which is pivoted to the inner face of the pulley-rim at l0. A link Il connects this lever directly to onegripping-section F. The opposite gripping-section F of that pairis operated sim ultaneously by the roller 8 in the cam-groove through a link 2, pivoted to the lever and passing through a slot 13 in the web of the pulley, and by a lever il, pivoted to the gripper at l5, fulerumed to an ear 1G of the web and pivoted to the link 12. This part of the structure is very clearly shown in Fig. 4. The grippers themselves are blocks in which are dovetailed grooved steel shoes 17, which form the actual clam pin g-surfaces. The bearing-surface of the pulley is continuous, since its cable-groove 5 coincides with the face of the web at the points where the gripping-sections are situated. The normal operation of the gripping-sections is produced by the rotation of the pulley and the travel of the rollers 8 in the cam-groove, which causes all the grips adjacent to the cable to seize and clamp it and at the same time causes the grips t-o successively release the cable as the latter passes off the pulley.

The endless cable can be led out from and into the machine in any direction, and provision is made for adjusting the machine to all these leads, so that a machine can be placed in one position and haul lumber from all directions until the supply' in that vicinity has been exhausted. The devices for guiding and changing the leads of the cable are carried by a casing I, adjustable upon the easin g A and capable of being locked in any position which the lead may require. The casing I is cylindrical where it ineloses the pulley, Fig. 4, and tapers upwardly above the pulley in conical shape. Its base is formed with an angular iiange 1S, which has a bearing upon and around a lip 1f) on the bed A. A ring 2li is bolted to the flange 1S, beneath the lip if), and so prevents the casing I from rising olf the bed A. The loose sleeve II', which surrounds the central shaft D, projects through the casing I and is belted solidly to it, as shown at 2l. Hence the relative motions of these parts are as follows: The easin g A is stationary. The shaft D revolves constantly, carrying with it the grippulley. The sleeve Il/ isnormallystationary relatively to the shaft and is, as stated, the upper bearing for said shaft, but it is bolted to the adjustable casing I, and can hence be turned upon the shaft D when the casing I is turned. The cam Il is loose upon the sleeve, but is locked to the casing I by a socket X and pin Y, and so turns when the sleeve is turned to change the gripping according to the lead of the cable, but it is also movable vertically on such sleeve, as before mentioned, for a purpose not yet specifically described.

The endless cable J enters the machine through a slot 22 in the casing I, passes around the grip-pulley, and leaves the machine through the same slot, as will be best understood by comparing Figs. 2 and S. The cable is guided into and out of the machine by two sets of guide-pulleys, both carried by the casing I. The guides for what is supposed to be the hauling side of the cable (arrows in Fig. 2) are horizontally-journaled sheaves 23 and vertically-journaled sheaves 24 The sheaves 23 are journaled in a slide 27, mevable in a bracket 2G, forming part of casing I. The sheave 2i is journaled in a lug 2S, projecting from the casing. This sheave projects through the slot 22 and is in close proximity to the grip-pulley. Its purpose is to direct the cable immediately into the cablegroove, so that it can be seized by the grips as soon as possible. The pulley 25 isayielding-pressure pulley for holding the cable in its groove and is journaled in a pivoted arm 20, forced by a spring 30 in against the cable. The guides for the exit of the cable are two sheaves 31 32, which are of the same construction and operation, respectively, as the pulleys 2l and The lead of the cable is determined by the position of one or more terminal pulleys at a distance from this machine, and such pulleys may be shifted from place to place without making necessary any adjustment of the machine by hand-power, for it will be evident that a change in the lead will change the direction of the strain IOC IIO

upon the entrance and eXit guide-pulleys, and hence the casing I and everything carried by it will be swung by the cable until the dead-line of resistance is found, when the casing I will become stationary with its cable-slot in line for the new lead.

I prefer to lock the casing I While the cable is running on any particular lead, and for this purpose I use a simple form of brake I', Figs. l and 2, consisting of a 'shoe adjustable by means of a screw 33 in a lug 34 of the bed A, and adapted to bear against the base-dan ge of the casing I. This brake is released when the lead is changed in order to permit the casing to adjust itself, as just explained.

I have thus far described a logging apparatus consisting of a grip-wheel for a cable and having means for changing the lead of the cable in all directions. I now describe means by which an increased strain upon the cable increases proportionately the grip of the pulley upon the cable. Such means consist in mechanism operated by the cable and connected to the gripping-sections, so as to give them an increased gripping pressure independently of the pressure produced normally by the cam.

In referring to the guide-pulleys for the entering cable I described the pulley 23 as being mounted in a movable slide 27 on the casing I. The movement of the slide operates the connections which give the independent movement to the gripping-sections. Journaled in the slide is a pulley K, which I term the governor. This governoris located between the pulleys 23 and 24, and the entering cable runs in cont-act with it. Pivoted to the slide is a link 34, adjustable, as shown, so as to change the throw, which in turn is pivoted to an oscillating crank 35, secured to one end of a short shaft 3G, journaled in a standard L, rising from the casing L. (See Fig. 6.) On the other end of the shaft is a partial gear 37, which engages with a quadrant 38, secured upon a shaft 39, journaled in boxes 40 on top of the casing I. (Compare Figs. 4 and 6.) Upon this shaft are arms 4l, which are connected by links 42 to the cam H, the links being pivoted to the ends of the arms 4l-and in ears 43 on the top of the cam. The slide 27 may be held in normal position by a spring, although this is not essential. In the end View, Fig. 3, the slide is under strain and has been moved to the right. By this movement the connections just described force the cam I-I downward on its sleeve, and the downward movement will be transmitted through the link connections before described to the grippingsections, causing them to close. more tightly upon the cable. Taking, for illustration, the gripping-sections shown in Fig. 4, it will be noticed that the cam has closed the sections as tightly as the ordinary operation of the Cain-groove will permit. If now the cam be given the described motion bodily and downward, an independent pressure will be given the gripping-sections through the connecting links and levers, and such pressure will be maintained by successive grippin g-sections while the cam is in that position. In practical operation the varying strain on the cable keeps the cam shifting slightly up and down and causes automatic changes of pressure in the grips in accordance with such strains. The upward motion of the y cam might be caused by a spring, as before stated, which would give a yielding resistance to the strain on the cable, and this spring might be applied to the slide 27 or between the cam II and the hub of the grip-pulley. It has been found, however, that in practice the movement of the cam is automatic in both directions without using such a spring, because the easing of the strain relaxes the grips somewhat, and this is enough to give the slight upward movement to the cam.

ByV reversing the engine which drives the machine the movement of the shaft D and grip-pulley can be reversed, so that the other side of the cable becomes the hauling side. The only change required in the machine is the addition of asecond governor-pulley M, Fig. 2, to the inner end of the slide 27, behind which the hauling side of the cable is carried. This pulley then acts as the governor in the same manner as the pulley K, pulling the slide 27 instead of pushing it, but transmitting the same motion to the cam and gripping-sections. The casing I must, however, be adj usted to give the proper lead to make the governor M effective.

IVhen a short non-endless cable is employed for yarding-out7 logs comparatively near the machine, I use the yarding-out drum N as auxiliary to the main pulley in order to wind up the free end of the cable as it is hauled in. In this case the cable enters the machine in the manner before described, passes around the grip-pulley and out from the machine,and is then carried to the drum N. The drum is journaled in the standards L L, which are mounted on the casing I. Its shaft is driven by gears O P, the latter being secured upon a transverse shaft Q, journaled in the standards L L. On the upper end of the grip-pulley shaft D is a friction-disk R, with which engages a friction-wheel S on the shaft Q, the wheel S bei-ng feathered on its shaft and having a grooved collar 45 to receive a lever by which it can be disengaged from the frictiondisk. Then the drum N is in gear, it will .wind up the cable as fast as the latter passes through the machine. XVhen the cable has been all wound up, the drum N is disengaged and the collar 45 set against the flange of the drum to act as a brake. A horse hauls the cable back for another log, while the engine is reversed, so as to pay out'the cable by rotating the grip-pulley reversely. The brake 45 prevents any slack from accumulating. The friction-gearing R S can slip as required when winding cable upon the drum, so that the Winding takes place uniformly and regularly as the diameter of the wound portion IOO IIO

increases. It should be noted that the drum being carried by the casing I is adjusted by the movement of the latter, so as to be always in line with the lead.

It will be evident that my machine, shown in a horizontalposition on account of the class of worliillustrated, can be set vertically when used for hoisting or when such a position is required for any kind of cable traction.

I do not limit myself to details of construction shown in the drawings, since many modifications and changes might be made without any essential or material change in the principles involved.

In describing and illustrating my invention I have shown what I believe to be the best construction of it for a special purpose, but not the only construction in which its essential principles can be embodied.

That I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In an apparatus for traction by cable, a pulley having grips for holding and releasing the cable, in combination with means for normally operating the grips, and a separate mechanism operated by the cable for increasing the pressure of the grips.

2. In an apparatus for traction by cable, a pulley having grips for holding and releasing the cable, and means for normally operating said grips in combination with amovable governor operated by the cable, and connections between said governor and the grips for the purpose substantially as set forth.

3. In an apparatus for traction by cable, a pulley having grips for holding and releasing the cable, in combination with a cam for setting and releasing said grips, a movable governor forming a guide for the cable, and connections between said governor and cam for moving the cam and tightening the grips independently of their normal. pressure produced by the cam.

4. In an apparatus for traction by cable, a pulley secured upon a rotary shaft and carrying gripping devices; a cam loose on said shaft and having connections to said gripping devices whereby they are alternately clamped and released as they revolve around said cam; and means operated bythe cable for moving the cam longitudinally on said shaft and thereby transmitting increased gripping force to said gripping devices, substantially as described.

5. In apparatus for traction by cable, a pulley secured upon a rotary shaft and having a series of pairs of oppositely-movable gripping-sections; a cam loose on said shaft, connections from said cam for operating both gripping sections of each pair simultaneously; and means for shifting the cam upon said shaft so as to operate said connections independently of their normal operation, for the purpose substantially as set forth.

6. In an apparatus for traction by cable, and in combination, a driven shaft, a pulley thereon provided with cable-gripping sections; a cam loose on said shaft and connected to said sections, a shifting slide having a guide for the cable entering the machine; and a series of connections extending from said slide to said cam, whereby the shifting of the slide produced by the entering cable, produces a longitudinal movement of said cam, which is transmitted to said grips, substantially as described.

7. In an apparatus for traction by cable, a bed-frame; a pulley journaled therein and provided With grips; a casingadj ustable upon said bed to different cable-leads and having an opening to admit the cable; a cam for operating said grips, and a connection between said casing and cam whereby the adjustment of the casing to any cable-lead, adjusts the cam to operate the grips on that lead, substantially as described.

S. In an apparatus for traction by cable, a fixed bed; an adjustable casing mounted thereon; a pulley journaled in the bed and having a series of grips for the cable; a cam loose on the shaft of said pulley, but connected to and movable with said casing, and having connections for operating the grips; and an opening in said casing, for the entry and exit of the cable, having a definite relation to said cam; all constructed and arranged so that a change in the lead of the cable, will swing the casing and cam automaticallyinto their proper positions relatively to the new lead, substantially as described.

9. In a cable-traction apparatus, the combination with the grip-pulley, of an adjustable casing having a cable inlet and exit opening; means for operating the grips of the pulley connected to said adjustable casing, and guidepulleys mounted upon and movable with said casing for guiding the cable to and from the grip -pulley, substantially as described.

10. In a cable-traction apparatus, a grippulley, an adjustable casing inclosing the same and having an opening for the entry and exit of the cable, a cam for operating the grips of the pulley, and secured to said movable casin g, in a certain relation to said opening, and a brake for locking the casing when adjusted to any lead of the cable, substantially as described.

1l. In a cable-traction apparatus, a driven shaft carrying a grip-pulley, an adjustable casing inclosing the same, and having an opening for the entry and exit of the cable, a cam having a longitudinal adjustment on said shaft and connected to the grips of the pulley, and a socket-and-pin connection between the cam and the casing, whereby the cam is adjusted circularly with the casing, and can be shifted independently on said shaft, substantially as described.

12. In a cable-traction apparatus, a bedframe, a shaft journaled therein, a grip-pulley on said shaft, a casing adjustable by a circular motion on the bed-frame, a sleeve secured to said casing and forming a bearing for said shaft, a cam on said sleeve connected to the grips of said pulley, and mechanism carried by the casing and connected to the cam for increasing the pressure of the grips substantially as described.

13. In a cabletraction apparatus, and in combination, a grippulley, a movable casing inclosing the same, a shaft 39 journaled in said casing, a driven shaft D carrying a loose cam for operating the grips of the pulley, connections between said cam and said shaft 39, and means carried by said casing and operated by the cable for oscillating said shaft 39 and shifting the cam longitudinally on the shaft D, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

14. In a cable-traction apparatus, and in combination with the grip-pulley, its operating-cam, and a surrounding casing I having a cable inlet and eXit opening; a shifting slide on said casing adjacent to saidopening, a shaft 39 journaled in the casing and connected to said cam, and connections between said slide and said shaft for transforming the motion of the slide into an oscillating motion of the shaft, substantially as and for the purposes described.

15. In a cable-traction apparatus, and in combination with the grip-pulley, and with the adjustable cam for operating said grips, an oscillating shaft 39 connected to said cam, a quadrant 38 on said shaft, a gear 37 engaging therewith, a crank on the shaft of said gear, a slide 27, and an adjustable link 3l between said slide and said gear, substantially as described.

16. In combination with the grip-pulley its operating-cam, and an adjustable casing having a slot for the entry and exit of the cable,

a shifting slide mounted on said casing, and having a governor-pulley K a removable auxiliary governor-pulley M adapted to be attached to said slide, and connections between said slide and the operatingcam, whereby the entering cable operates said slide by contact with one of said governors in either normal or reverse rotation of the grip-pulley, substantially as described.

17. In cable-traction apparatus adapted for endless or non-endless cables, and in combination, a rotating grip-pulley, means for autom atically operating the grips to cause them to hold and release the cable, an adjustable casing having an opening for the entry and eXit of the cable, and a drum geared to the shaft of the grip-pulley and mounted upon said casing, substantially as described.

18. In cable-traction apparatus, agrip-pulley, an adjustable casing surrounding the pulley, and having a cable-slot for opening, a drum journaled upon said casing, in position to receive the cable from the grip-pulley, and gearing, partly frietional between the grippulley shaft and the shaft of said drum, substantially as described.

19. In cabletraction apparatus, a grip-pulley, casing surrounding the pulley and having a cable slot or opening, a drum journaled upon said casing in position to receive the cable from the grip-pulley, gearing partly frictional between the pulley-shaft and the drum-shaft, and means for disengaging said frietional gearing and applying a brake to said drum, substantially as described.

20. In combination with a iianged drum N, a friction-disk R, a shaft Q, a friction-wheel S adjustable on said shaft, and a sliding eollar secured to said wheel, adjacent to the flange of the drum, whereby the collar disengages the friction-gearing and at the same time sets itself as a brake against the flange of the drum, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have affixed mysignature, in presence of two witnesses, this 29th day of May, 1396.

GEORGE S. FOUTS.

Witnesses:

L. W. SEELY, I-I. J. LANG. 

